Why off-site vs. On-site

[disneydance]

We went to wdw for my very first trip we stayed on-site at Animal Kingdom Lodge and loved it now for our next trip we were wondering why you all stay off-site vs. on-site. We are planning 5 trips for next year and each will be very long trips but will not interfer with school as little as possible. We will only stay deluxe so it can get pretty spendy. Thank you so much

 

[CoralCayTownhome]

Staying off-site generally will help with the budget and therefore allow you to take a longer trip. Along with the usually cheaper room/unit rate, you may well have kitchen facilities which will then save a good few $$$ on breakfasts, drinks and snacks. You could also get take-out some evenings too.

If you go for a rental home you will also get a lot of extra space, perhaps a private hot-tub or pool (depending on what sort of home you go for) and quite often community facilities.

Ok it will not be Disney 24/7 and if you feel that you might miss being on site think about doing a split stay. There is a lot more to Orlando than just Disney and staying off-site lets you explore these other options - along with some great value restaurants

Good luck with all your planning

Tracey

 

[nala-h]

hi katie

there are many many reason for staying offsite apposed to onsite i am sure you will have a lot of replys to this please see thread below for some of the reason why people stay offsite.

allan.

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?s=&search=windsor+hills+or+on-site

 

[deejay-55]

It's a matter of personal choice - for example, an offsite pool home with resort facilities can offer you more space and privacy than any hotel; on the other hand, on-site you may feel you experience more of the magic. We used to stay on site and became "Disneyed out" after a few days - and there is so much entertainmment, dining and shopping available outside Disney to enjoy as well, particularly for a long trip.

 

[myAAbatteries&aTD]

We stay off-site b/c we own a timeshare and do RCI exchange (we've had it for years)..... maybe one year we'll try on-site if we ever decide to take 2 trips a year instead of just one.....

 

[MiaSRN62]

I stay both on and offsite. Offsite can be much less expensive and you can even get larger accomodations for the same price or less what disney charges for a small room and two beds. You can get an offsite villa with 2 bedrooms/2baths/full kitchen/washer&dryer....for about the same cost of a disney moderate per night (sometimes even for the price of a disney value per night !!!).
But I agree, there are perks to be onsite as well and that's why we do both. We split our July/Ayg trip between Vistana and the WL this year. Best of both worlds.

 

[kacaju]

We have our first family trip coming up next week. We are staying onsite for free dining (POR).
We are a family of 5. Chances are with increased ticket prices if we were to go back we would stay off site because Disney does not make it easy for a family of 5 to stay onsite. I do not have a lot of choices of resorts to stay at unless I go deluxe. I can't see spending that much money when there are many cheaper places to stay.

 

[Christine]

Frankly, with two adults, two teens (and sometimes a friend), the hotel room was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic after a few days, no one slept well because someone was either snorning or talking in their sleep.

We got a 4-bdrm townhouse last trip and it was HEAVEN for me, the mom. We all had so much privacy. And it truly was a godsend when two of the kids got a stomach virus. God, I can't imagine being stuck in a hotel room with two sick kids.

 

[Brian Noble]

I can sleep four to a single hotel room for one night. Maybe two. After that, I want a separate bedroom for the kids, preferably separated by a living room. For the time I go---late February/early March---you're looking at $250/night, minimum, to get that onsite. I can do it offsite---within 12 minutes or less to any theme park parking lot---for less than $100. Some years, much less.

We love the on-site resorts, and appreciate the perks and the ability to stay in the "Disney cocoon" for our entire trip. But, we don't appreciate it to the tune of an extra $150 per night---the money we save pays for our four park tickets for the week, plus we are staying in rooms that are furnished and outfitted similarly to a DVC 2BR, for less than the price of a Value room.

True, no one says "Welcome Home!" when we show up. I can live with that.

 

[sticker231]

We have a timeshare and stay offsite. We have alot of extra space and the kids stay in their own room. We have a nice balcony where we can relax at night and watch the fireworks from if we leave early. The huge jacuzzi tub is also relaxing at night.

 

[utahkennedys]

The only reason I can see staying off-site, which we do probably 50% of the time, is to save $. We can get great space at the DVC resorts, it's just more expensive. We have enjoyed the Marriott Vacation Club properties and the Hilton Grand Vacation Club Properties quite a bit, although, if money were never an issue, we would always stay on site at DVC...

 

[dgaston]

We like the extra space, and stay in a mix of off-site and on-site properties. We do own DVC, but not enough points to cover all our visits, many of which would "cost" too many DVC points as DH is a high school teacher, and we need to travel at very specific times.

This coming Christmas, we have rented an off-site pool home at Windsor Hills, and on January 1 will move to AKV for 3 nights. Poor DH will have to fly back early to be at school on the 2nd. I'll owe him an AKV visit.

We have learned our way around WDW pretty well, and enjoy many off-site restaurants and even shopping at Publix and Winn-Dixie

 

[Minnie]

Check out this thread. It was my review of our first off-site stay this past July. It has both the positive/negatives that we thought about the trip.

BTW - For our trip in Dec I think we will be staying on-site again. I managed so snag an awesome AP rate at the WL

But next year in July who know????

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1524458

 

[Karrie Davis]

We have always stayed on site. Last trip we stayed at OKW and that was great. If ruined us for any "normal" room. This year we are trying a house. We will most likely all sleep in 1 room because we are just a family of 2 and our son is 3 years old... but we got a 4 bedroom house. It was only $165 a night and we really wanted the pool and hot tub in the yard. The owner made us a NICE deal because of the time we wanted to go (1st half of dec). We are staying 9 nights, maybe 10 and then going to the beach for a few days to shell.

We are saving about $25 a night from renting OKW points last year but it is WAY bigger. Last year we never used the pool because it was far and cold but we think we will this year because it is right in the back.

We really wanted to see what it was like staying at a villa. We are really thinking of buying at DVC and wanted to check out the other options 1st.

I will miss the room key holding our tickets (I will be photographing those right after we get the paper ones this time), and charging on the room key too.

We always rent a car and like to eat off Disney, and never use the bus so that is not an issue for us. The buses may be if you have older kids who can go places w/out you but we only have our 3 year old...

 

[rosiep]

We went to wdw for my very first trip we stayed on-site at Animal Kingdom Lodge and loved it now for our next trip we were wondering why you all stay off-site vs. on-site. We are planning 5 trips for next year and each will be very long trips but will not interfer with school as little as possible. We will only stay deluxe so it can get pretty spendy. Thank you so much

Katie, you do know that not everyone has that kind of money right? Being able to go 5 times and stay long at a Deluxe resort is out of range for most people's budget. You are very fortunate to be able to do so.

 

[Lisa BC]

Hi Katie!

I admit that I'm jealous.... five trips to Disney sounds great. I love Disney. I don't mind staying on site, but I prefer to stay offsite.

This trip we are renting a large house and we couldn't be more excited. We don't really use the perks of staying onsite regularly. We don't bother with EMH since we use TourGuideMike's advice. We might miss charging privileges, but we plan on getting Disney gift cards, and just recharging as needed to help control our spending. We plan to eat offsite quite a bit, since we are not really "fancy food" eaters, and we feel the quality of WDW food is becoming more average. We also prefer to drive to the parks rather than taking the bus. The buses can be very crowded, and you sometimes wait a good while at the end of the day to catch a bus... then sometimes have to stand on the bus all the way back to your resort.


Now at the villa we're renting.... we have a private heated pool and jacuzzi right out our back door that we don't have to share with rowdy teens. We get to park our car at our door. We have high end pillow top mattresses and linens. The house also has its own games room with pool table and air hockey table, and a fabulous theater system in the living room. Honestly, the house isn't any farther away from WDW parks than OKW.

We love OKW, and it is the only resort that we would consider returning to on property. We love the fact that it is so spacious and peaceful and quiet.. not over the top Disney. But lots of people don't like OKW, because they think it doesn't feel as "Disney'd" as the other resorts. In the end, it is so much more money to stay onsite at OKW then to rent a luxury pool villa - especially when we don't really use the onsite perks. So it make more sense to us to stay offsite.

You might want to give it a try for one of your upcoming trips ( or split your stay if you'll be staying 10-14 days. Since you're going so often this year, you'll be able to compare the onsite vrs. offsite experience pretty readily.

Lisa

 

[MiaSRN62]

We are a family of 5. Chances are with increased ticket prices if we were to go back we would stay off site because Disney does not make it easy for a family of 5 to stay onsite. I do not have a lot of choices of resorts to stay at unless I go deluxe.

We're a family of 5 as well.....rarely did deluxe. Instead we went with two connecting value or moderates. That gives you 4 beds and 2 bathrooms. We've gotten two connecting values for $200/night (for the two of them total). Not bad since this gives you freedom to not rent a car if you don't want to and all the other onsite perks.
We finally became DVC Members in 2000, and OKW is our home resort. We feel it's subdued disney----and we love it.

 

[FayeW]

I don't care how nice a hotel is, 4 people sleeping in one room for a week or more is not my idea of a vacation. We could probably handle a hotel room for about 3 days, maximum.

We like to stay in 2 bdrm units. If money was no object we would buy enough
DVC points to stay for 7 days in a 2 bdrm at BWV, preferred view. Since my last name isn't Rockefeller, Gates, or Trump I will have to content myself with staying in lovely 2bdrm condos offsite for less then the cost of the maintenance fees on the aforementioned DVC.

No amount of "magic" is worth sacrificing my comfort, convenience and sanity.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Since my last name isn't Rockefeller, Gates, or Trump

Hey Faye.....I own DVC and most certainly don't have one of those last names And we stick to a budget too....when we add up all the years of renting 2 bedroom villas.....our DVC is be paid for now. I'm just saying it's more doable than some people might think---especially if you vacation in Orlando every year. Even if you don't, you can save up 3 years worth of points and stay every 3rd year. You would probably only have to buy 100 or so points at BWV if you wanted to stay in a BW view every 3rd year.

 

[Brian Noble]

when we add up all the years of renting 2 bedroom villas.....our DVC is be paid for now.

If that is your comparison point, then DVC generally makes sense. Not always, though---depending on your assumptions about cost-of-capital. I use 8%, which comes close to the after-tax gain of the S&P 500. At that rate of return, renting is cheaper if rentals are $10/pt or less, and owning is cheaper if rentals are $11/pt or higher. Over time, owning gets better than renting, because the renter faces inflation on the entire cost. The owner suffers inflation only on the annual dues, not the opportunity cost of purchase---that is fixed at purchase time.

However, a DVC purchase is cost-effective only compared to renting other DVC units. But, if you are comparing a DVC points purchase for a 2BR villa to most any other 2BR timeshare unit in Orlando of similar quality---either rented or purchased---then DVC is more costly by factors of 2 to 4, or more.